Afterwards
by darkestboy
Summary: Donna and the Master have a meeting of sorts. Set after Journey's End


**Name:** Afterwards  
**Characters:** 10th Doctor, Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler, Wilfred Mott, Sylvia Noble, The Master, Davros, Daleks  
**Synopsis: **The Master has landed in Chiswick, determined to recapture The Doctor but he needs help in laying a trap for him. Could the recently memory wiped Donna Noble be his only way of getting what he needs? Post _Journey's End_.

_"Exterminate him," screamed Davros at the top of his lungs at a deafening volume to two of his beloved Daleks. The Daleks were moving into position to kill him as they began to raise their guns and aim for him._

The Master had anticipated this response. On a list of several things he didn't want, getting exterminated by the Daleks for a second time was high on that list. Once had been more than enough but now that Davros was aware of his plot to dismantle the reality bomb, the Master knew he was running out of options.

His main desire had been to grab the Doctor and leg it to a nearby spaceship but as soon as everyone had been dragged into Davros' main cell, the Doctor had been shoved into a holding cell along with Rose while Martha kneeled beside Mickey, Jack, Jackie and Sarah Jane. A holding cell was about to fall on him but he decided it was time to leave.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" trilled the two Daleks, hoping to bask in the joy of shooting a Time Lord. The Master wasn't going to let them experience such pleasure so he decided he needed leverage.

Grabbing Jackie by her arm and neck and using her as a shield was met with various reactions from everyone.

"Hey!" screamed Jackie not pleased with being manhandled by another lunatic aboard the Crucible.

"Shut up," the Master hissed at her coldly, "or I'll snap your bloody neck."

"Don't you dare," shouted Rose.

"Master please," the Doctor tried to reason. "Let her go."

"Just kill them," Davros ordered his Daleks as the Master moved himself and Jackie near the controls. There was no way Davros would dare shoot him when he was standing at the very controls that could obliterate his plan.

"Exterminate, exterminate," the Daleks repeated incessantly.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the Master bargained, his eyes cold and his grip on Jackie getting tighter, especially around her neck. "At best you kill this stupid woman and injure me but at worst; your precious Daleks blow up the controls. Wouldn't want that, would you?"

Davros wasn't quick to respond which meant that the Master knew he had bought himself some time to think of his next move. Then he remembered.

"I'll give you stupid, you psycho," Jackie threatened unconvincingly, her neck sore from the Master's grip on it. The Master just rolled his eyes in boredom and then he released her arm so he could take a look in her pockets.

"Oi!"

"Gotcha," the Master smiled matter of factly. Now everyone could see that he held Jackie's dimension cannon in his hand.

Turning to Davros, the Master just smiled immaturely, knowing that he was about to have the last laugh as he threw Jackie hard to the floor. Martha and Sarah Jane catching her ensured that Jackie wasn't hurt.

"You'll suffer for this," Davros vowed, pointing at him with the cold metallic hand.

"If you survive this, maybe," the Master smirked as he then turned to the Doctor. "As for you, we will meet very soon. Don't think you can escape me, Doctor."

"Master," called the Doctor, relieved that his best enemy was on the verge of escape but dreading their next confrontation as well, assuming that he could actually find a way of besting Davros first that is.

With that, the Master furiously slammed on the dimension cannon as a stray ray from one of the Daleks was nearing to hit him in the head. He could see the forlorn look on the Doctor's face but as he was leaving the Crucible he was convinced that he could hear the TARDIS, even if was a faint echo.

After landing in the middle of Nicaragua, the Master had done some fiddling with the dimension cannon via his laser screwdriver and found himself landed in Chiswick. His timing was a little off as he dashed down to the street only to see the TARDIS disappear and an elderly gentleman get back inside his house.

Of course the most interesting thing about this was the woman on the phone by the window, blissfully talking nonsense to one of her mates as if nothing had happened. The Master quickly realised that this woman was in fact, Donna Noble; the same woman he assumed had been killed by the Supreme Dalek when the TARDIS was supposed to have met a fiery death. Clearly not only had Donna survived but her time travelling with the Doctor had also come to an end.

The Master could sense an opportunity here but he'd have to be subtle when approaching Donna. Paying her a home visit when her mother and grandfather were around would probably not be his best course of action. He'd have to wait until Donna was alone and given that the streets were awash with people talking and celebrating about the Earth being brought back, he imagined that it wouldn't be long until Donna would present among a crowd that he could take her away from.

Getting off the phone her friend, Veena, Donna hollered from the kitchen, "Anyone want anything at the shops?"

"You're going out?" Sylvia asked as she entered the kitchen, her face trying to mask concern. The Doctor had told her not to say anything that would raise attention so freaking out about Donna going to the shops wasn't a good start.

"Yes Mum," Donna emphasised "I'm going to the shops to get some basic groceries to prove that I am not completely useless."

"I know that," Sylvia said, her voice sounding a little stung.

"Since when?" Donna cocked her eyes, though not unkindly as she noticed Wilf entering the kitchen also. "You want anything, Granddad?"

"No, Sweetheart, I'm fine."

"So, planets in the sky," Donna changed the subject while talking to Wilf, "I'm surprised you weren't there with your telescope."

"Maybe next time," Wilf smiled at her. "Shouldn't you be going before the shops close?"

"That's right!" Donna remembered as she grabbed her keys and darted out the door, not noticing the worried expressions that both her mother and grandfather were exhibiting behind her back.

The timing had been perfect. The Master had stopped spying on the Noble household after he had eavesdropped on a conversation between Sylvia and Wilf and realised that Donna's memories had been wiped from her by the Doctor for her own good.

The Master had taken to a pub to consume as much scotch as he could. Alcohol didn't have as much as an effect on Time Lords as it did humans which meant he could drink plenty of the stuff.

Coming out of the grotty little pub, he noticed Donna on the way back, wearing a caramel leather jacket and carrying a bag that looked filled with bread, butter, sausages, bacon, cheese and wine. As she turned a corner, he was there facing her, both of them meeting the other's gaze.

"Hello," Donna said calmly, almost as if she had been expecting him, though the Master knew that she didn't recognise him at all.

"Hi," the Master replied, eager to keep his tone friendly and non-threatening. He didn't want for Donna to go running in the other direction. Donna however was clearly tiring of his staring at her.

"Can I help you?" Donna asked impatiently.

"Interesting question," the Master considered as he began to move closer to her, his hand moving into one of his pockets, looking for something.

"Well can I or can't I because I don't have time for this." Donna's voice was less hospitable when she came out with this.

"Actually you can," the Master answered as he produced a photo from his pocket of the Doctor from the CCTV images he had of him during his reign as Harold Saxon and showed it to Donna. "Have you seen this man?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I do," the Master confirmed.

"What's your name?"

"Harold Saxon," the Master said, thinking on the spot but cursing himself for using such an obvious name. However Donna just blinked at him, the name having no resonance whatsoever.

"He calls himself John Smith. I have reason to believe that he might have come into contact with you, Donna Noble."

"How do you know my name?" Donna sounded affronted which worried the Master a little.

"I'm a private investigator," the Master rushed out on the spot yet again. He realised that Donna was going to be a lot harder to use as bait if he didn't get his act together sooner or later. "And Mr Smith is a very dangerous man to know."

Donna didn't seem entirely convinced. "How is he dangerous? Is he an axe murderer or something?"

"I think fantasist would be closer," the Master slightly chuckled. "He thinks he's this big adventurer but in reality, he's very ill. His mental faculties aren't all there I'm afraid."

"He seemed fine to me when I saw him," Donna let slip out, her bargaining chip now gone.

"You've seen him?" the Master raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Donna grudgingly admitted. "He was talking to my mother and granddad. Come to think of it, they were acting a bit strange when he was there. Has he hurt them?"

"I doubt it," the Master reassured her. "Mr Smith is more of a danger to himself than anyone else but even still, he needs to be contained for his own good."

"Then what do you want with me?" Donna asked, suddenly worried about this mystery man's intentions as well as Mr Smith.

"I think he might be after you," the Master informed her, his voice feigning grave.

"Why me? What I have ever done?"

"Nothing," the Master continued. "Mr Smith has a tendency to tell people about these great stories, these places that he goes to, enemies that he may have fought. He often targets people he sees as vulnerable-"

"-What makes you think I'm vulnerable?" Donna demanded, sounding hurt but mostly affronted.

"Are you currently in of employment, Miss Noble?"

"What's that got to do with you?"

"Are you married, seeing anyone?" the Master continued.

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Donna bristled, her face getting stern.

"My point is," the Master ignoring her annoyance, "that he targets people he sees as directionless, no offence meant and fills them with these tales of a promising and exciting life, despite the fact that he's quite ordinary. So ordinary that it horrifies him to his very core."

"Well if he's so ordinary," Donna rationed "and such a non-threat, then why are you boring me with all of this stuff? What am I supposed to do?"

The Master realised that this plan wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He made the stupid mistake that with her memory wiped, Donna would be far easier to groom as bait for luring the Doctor back to Earth so that he could recapture the do-gooder Time Lord and set Donna off.

Instead of how to stop an exploding man ala _Heroes_, the Master had been fascinated with the idea of how to start an exploding woman. Donna was literally a ticking time bomb waiting to go off but the Master would have to wait for the right time to detonate her properly.

For a while he would have to use her to set little ripples, contrive events that would attract the Doctor's attention back to the Earth before he would ultimately ensnare the other Time-Lord upon Donna's unwitting assistance. Of course given that he was getting off to a bad start with the fiery redhead, he was going to have to work harder to get her to trust him and quick. After his year long captivity with Davros, the Master didn't want to be bound to a human for that long just so he could get his Doctor back.

"Well?" Donna snapped, taking the Master out of his train of thought. "Why should I be bothered about this Mr Smith?"

"Because he's obsessed with you Donna," the Master snapped back "and unless you're happy being the object of a fantasist's affection, I suggest you listen to me and do as I say. Unless of course, you're in love with this man and I should just leave you to it."

"Don't be daft," Donna defended herself. "He's way too skinny for my liking. Maybe that does something for you but it definitely does nothing for me."

Instead of listening to Donna bleat on and on, the Master pulled her in for a kiss, her groceries dropping to the ground. He was desperate to scratch her brain for the faintest of memories of her time travelling in the TARDIS as he knew the Doctor wasn't completely good with memory wipes.

At first Donna looked like she wanted to back out of the kiss but she soon relented as the Master's hand ran through her hair, touching the back of her head. Closing his eyes and entering Donna's mind, he could some of the faintest of memories but they played like static in her head, so he transferred some of the thoughts into his own head, aware that a heartburn-esque heat was slightly generating from Donna. She wasn't going to burn up; the Master would ensure it as he needed time before setting up his latest trap for the Doctor.

Inside his head, little memories played. He remembered the Doctor crying over losing Rose on Bad Wolf Bay one minute and then watching as Donna was shouting for him to leave the dead Racnoss the next. Other memories had included the Adipose, rock monsters in Pompeii, red eyed Ood, Sontarans, a young girl named Jenny, a giant wasp, River Song and creepy Nodes, the Doctor retelling his powerlessness on a shuttle bus, Rose telling Donna of her death, Davros' humiliating defeat and Donna's memories being erased. The things that Donna couldn't remember were now burning in the Master's head so much that he broke from the kiss.

"Donna Noble has left the library," the Master repeated hypnotically, his eyed lidded and drugged looking. "Donna Noble has been saved."

"Stay away from me," a shell shocked, confused and disgusted Donna replied as she grabbed her groceries and legged it, ignoring the Master calling out her name.

The Master smiled, taking in recent memories of the Doctor and also aware that despite her horrified reaction, he had piqued enough interest in Donna that next time when they would encounter each other her insatiable curiosity would be enough for her to believe anything he told her. As traps went, this one had all the makings of a success.

- The End -


End file.
